Busy week!

Busy week for me this week!
I have still been in the orphanage every day and this week I got to shadow the small group of "linguist teachers." After observing them I can say that they are sort of a cross between a pediatric occupational therapist and speech therapist. I loved being with them since so much of what they do is exactly what I do with my patients back home. Since I worked with many children who also had speech delays I would often use techniques I learned from the speech therapists in my work. We definitely "spoke the same language" and I didn't feel the impact of a language barrier nearly as much this week. It may have been because these women are accustomed to speaking very very slowly and enunciating words with almost comical precision (who am I kidding...this is EXACTLY why the language barrier shrunk this week!). They also seemed to enjoy teaching me new words and correcting my pronunciation...."no no no Saritchka, not like that, like this!" HAHA!

They seemed just as interested as I did to discuss the similarities and differences between practices in Ukraine and in America. They seemed reluctant to let me go today but asked me to come back next week for some more conversations. Next week I am scheduled to spend time with the physiotherapists as well so they may end up being long days! I am excited!

Also this week my friend Margo (a gal I met in Omaha actually when I came on the Ukraine trip 4 years ago). How is this for a small world...she and I met 4 years ago when we both came to Artemivsk and then now she is a member of the Peace Corp in a town not too far from here. We got reconnected though the Peace Corp volunteer who is stationed in Artemivsk now. So now we talk on the phone all the time and when her old host family here invited her for Easter she came early and stayed with me for a few days. She came to the orphanage with me today and we had a blast playing with the children! It was fun to have someone around to speak english with at a normal speed and volume....when I do rarely speak english here in Artemivsk usually I have to speak slowly and enunciate and use simple words. Having her in my apartment felt just like a typical evening in the states!